


Sliding Down a Hill Probably Isn’t the Best of Ideas (But at Least it Lead Me to You)

by ProustPerfume



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Cute, Emotionally Constipated Tsukishima Kei, Fluff, Hinata Shouyou is sunshine personified, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, It’s written from tsukki’s POV so you don’t see it but pining hinata, M/M, The slightest bit of family related angst, Tsukishima Kei is Bad at Feelings, Tsukishima is a bit of a brat but it’s ok bc hes cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:21:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26644399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProustPerfume/pseuds/ProustPerfume
Summary: Tsukishima Kei doesn’t exactly like his schoolmate Hinata Shoyo, but sliding down a hill, mending injuries, a serious talk in the middle of the night, and breakfast are all he needs to change that
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Tsukishima Kei
Comments: 4
Kudos: 147





	Sliding Down a Hill Probably Isn’t the Best of Ideas (But at Least it Lead Me to You)

Summer was on its way and something about the increase in heat that made everyone act stupid. Tsukishima Kei wasn’t usually one for silly antics, opting to use times where others pulled pranks and disrupted class to instead focus on his studies and get ahead in life. One of his peers that he had such a stark contrast to was a boy in his year named Hinata Shoyo. They weren’t in the same classes, Tsukishima being in prep college courses and Hinata being in general education, thank goodness, but their classrooms were located next to each other and even if they weren’t, Hinata had a way of sticking out.

Besides his loud voice, blinding orange hair, and need to always be at the center of attention, he was also the class clown of their grade and reigned so with little competition. Everyone seemed to love Hinata and his jokes but Tsukishima couldn’t stand him. He found the other obnoxious, and while sometimes he could be somewhat humorous, Tsukishima never tried to make friends with him and found it foolish how the boy wasted time he could use for studying to instead put pencils up his nose and make silly faces at lunch.

Fortunately, their schedules usually had them far enough apart that Tsukishima never had any problems running into the twerp, but unfortunately for Tsukishima somewhere down the line Hinata developed an affinity for Tsukishima and wouldn’t leave him alone if time allowed it. Tsukishima had a feeling Hinata somehow thought of them as  _ friends _ and the thought made his stomach queasy in a way he’d never felt before. 

Because Hinata had somehow convinced himself that him and Tsukishima were close, this led to Hinata trying to rope Tsukishima into his antics. Usually and almost immediately he was shot down, but in the few months they had known each other Tsukishima had gotten in more trouble with the administration than he ever had in his entire schooling career and it was a fact that made Tsukishima’s blood boil; he was an innocent being terrorized by a child with enough energy to fuel the sun, he didn’t think it was very fair for him to get into trouble for his unwilling proximity to the short stack.

Usually, when Tsukishima had a free period or wasn’t going home immediately after school, he would sit under his favorite tree at the bottom of the hill near their school and study. 

The hill was somewhat famous in their town, for the park that resided on it was the only one within a three mile radius that had a swing set and as well as there were multiple sports areas, such as the basketball courts and baseball field at the bottom of the hill. Because of this, it was a pretty busy area at any given moment, but only on the side facing the school, basketball courts, and baseball field. The tree Tsukishima liked to sit under was on the opposite side of the hill and most of the student body didn’t go there because of the rumors of the empty field near the bottom hill and how it was haunted by “ghosts”. There was no evidence to support this theory but it was still forbidden for students to enter because of safety reasons, so Tsukishima was usually pretty lucky to be able to study in peace.

The only other person who would go to that side of the hill was Hinata, but Tsukishima had a sneaking suspicion it was because the shorter thinking they were friends and wanting to be around him, since Tsukishima never saw Hinata on the hill when he wasn’t there. Hinata at least had enough sense to not bother Tsukishima when he was there, usually staying at the top of the hill and playing with his friends, but Tsukishima still found it irritating to hear his elated giggles squeals of joy when he was trying to focus on his maths.

Tsukishima liked the hill because it was secluded, but Hinata made the solitude of it impossible to achieve. The foolishness he had been trying that day was riding down the hill with lunch trays and Tsukishima scoffed when he overheard the idea while memorizing formulas.

“It’ll be so awesome, Acchan, I promise!” Hinata insisted, excitedly holding the lunch trays up to his hesitant friend.

“I don’t know…” was the unenthusiastic response Hinata received and he pouted slightly at it.

“How about I do it first and show you how cool it’ll be?” His friend thought it over for a moment before nodding, Hinata cheering in victory at his approval.

He readied himself on the top of the hill and Tsukishima was getting ready to laugh his head off at Hinata making a fool of himself before his name was called as such a high volume the frequency made him flinch.

“Tsukki!” Hinata yelled at the top of the hill and Tsukishima pretended he hadn’t heard him, adjusting himself and facing away from Hinata.

“Tsukki, watch how cool I am, okay?!” Tsukishima scoffed at Hinata’s unabashed arrogance, but he still looked at the redhead from the corner of his eye. For comedic purposes only, of course.

“I’m coming down to you, Tsukki!” Realistically, this was probably a very bad idea. The hill was more steep than tall but the trays were plastic and the ground was still a little damp from the recent rain; putting two and two together, one could conclude this wouldn’t end well. Tsukishima always brought a sheet or something of the like to avoid having to sit on the wet, muddy, and generally dirty floor, but Hinata was obviously not one to think that far ahead and would very likely pick up some speed as a result of his carelessness and intentional stupidity.

It wasn’t his problem, though, Tsukishima told himself. He did not nor could he control the actions of others, so if Hinata wanted to risk bodily harm that was his business; at least Tsukishima would get a laugh out of it.

Watching Hinata crash into the field at the bottom of the hill wasn’t as nearly humorous as he thought it would be, though. Halfway through his descent, his tray must’ve slipped out from under him because of the wet grass and he began tumbling down the hill as his friend called for him in worry at the top of the hill, the distance and how far Hinata was tumbling being made even more apparent by how faint the voice was.

When he made it to the bottom he didn’t move immediately and Tsukishima froze. He still wasn’t moving after a few moments and before Tsukishima could even properly comprehend the situation his body was moving on its own on instinct and he was sprinting towards Hinata.

Hinata was lying still on the floor, his body relaxed and lying on his stomach and Tsukishima worried he was unconscious. Carefully, Tsukishima rolled Hinata over and was immediately filled with rage over what he saw.

Here he expected for Hinata to be unconscious with an injury to his head or something like that, but instead he was greeted with the cheesy grin of the redhead smiling up at him.

“I looked super cool, right, Tsukki?” The redhead smiled through grass stains and dirt on his face and Tsukishima wanted to punch him. Instead, he shoved Hinata and let out a sound of annoyance before heading back to his tree and collecting his things.

“Wait, Tsukki!” Hinata sounded confused and anxious but Tsukishima didn’t care. “Where are you going?”

“Home,” he barked out and roughly pulled his bang onto his shoulder. He started to storm away but Hinata ran in front of him and got in his way to stop him from leaving.

“Why are you going? Didn’t you see my awesome trick?”

“It would’ve been awesome if you keeled over and died.” He obviously didn’t mean that, his anger and worry making him say things he didn’t mean, but the fact that Hinata brushed the comment off because he  _ knew _ Tsukishima didn’t mean it pissed him off. He tried to shove past the other and continue walking but Hinata grabbed his wrist and stopped him, the touch making his skin burn.

“Why are you so upset?” Hinata asked, sounding genuinely concerned. Tsukishima felt a growl bubble in his throat and yanked his hand away, continuing to walk.

“I’m not upset,” he lied and Hinata called him on it.

“Yeah, right, I've never seen you look so mad. Did I do something wrong?”

“Besides fling yourself down a hill and pretend like you were dead? No, everything’s just peachy besides that.”

Tsukishima hadn’t been watching the other, eyes on the road because he knew that Hinata would follow him regardless of if he paid attention to him or not, but the sound of the redhead’s shoes halting against the pavement made him stop as well and he turned to look at the other and a question on his face that asked why he stopped.

Hinata looked spellbound as he looked up at Tsukishima and all the blonde could think was, _ “oh no.” _

“You were worried about me,” Hinata whispered like he couldn’t believe it and Tsukishima didn’t want to either. His ears burned red and he quickly tried to leave again, but Hinata wouldn’t have it.

“You’re  _ worried _ about me!” He cried in complete shock. He dodged the hand Tsukishima swung at him and Tsukishima cursed his freakishly fast reflexes.

“Tsukishima is worried about me.” Hinata kept repeating it to himself as if it was a mantra, like he truly couldn’t believe it, and Tsukishima couldn’t either. Had he actually been  _ worried _ about the shrimp? How revolting.

“I am not,” he tried weakly but Hinata obviously didn’t believe him. 

“Whatever you say, Worryshima.” He had that smug grin on his face that he got whenever he felt particularly proud of himself and Tsukishima had the urge of wanting to punch him surge through his body again.

He was about to retaliate with a smartalec comment when Hinata suddenly winced and clutched his side and all Tsukishima’s fighting energy zapped out of him in an instant, instead turning to worry once more.

“Where does it hurt?” He asked, moving Hinata’s hands out of the way from where they were holding his body. He gently pressed his fingers to the shorter’s ribs and flinched when Hinata cried out in pain.

“You’re definitely injured, you idiot,” he grumbled before grabbing Hinata’s hand and leading the way to his house, the redhead stuttering at their touch.

The walk home was surprisingly quiet, the adrenaline from his worry wearing off, and Hinata was starting to feel the pain more since his own adrenaline was wearing off as well and the pain made him be quiet. Partly through the walk Tsukishima realized that he was holding Hinata’s hand and he tried to ignore the warmth creeping up his neck and onto his ears and prayed to all holy beings that Hinata would blame his clammy hands on the approaching summer and nothing else. 

Tsukishima’s house was empty of his family like he expected it to be and he was relieved because of it. Explaining to them why he had a boy over and how he was covered in scratches was something he definitely didn’t want to do, so he was glad no one was home.

After taking their shoes off, Tsukishima brought Hinata to the bathroom in his room and quickly pulled his hand away once he had him sat on the toilet, hoping the other hadn’t realized they were still holding hands like he had.

“Wait here,” he ordered and left to search his parents’ room for possible supplies. When he found them he came back and was surprised to see that Hinata had indeed listened, the redhead sitting still and only looking around at the things in his bathroom, and Tsukishima quickly approached when Hinata’s eyes lingered on the dinosaur shaped cup that held Tsukishima’s toothbrush. 

He put the supplies on the counter and kneeled down to Hinata’s level, quickly getting to work. Hinata had small knicks and cuts all over from tumbling on the ground and Tsukishima cleaned them as best as he could, avoiding the intense staring Hinata was doing directly at his face.

“Is there something wrong?” He barked as he reached for a bandage, completely avoiding eye contact so Hinata couldn't call his bluff.

“No, nothing,” Hinata quickly answered and the two fell silent again, the only sound the ripping of the packaging on the bandage.

Tsukishima took Hinata’s hand in his, the one he hadn’t been holding before, and turned it over, grimacing at the big cut on his palm. It was cleaned so it wasn’t as gruesome as before but it was still pretty bad and he quickly covered it and wrapped it in gauze to avoid thinking about the sight of the gash more.

“There,” he said, going for mocking but it sounded a little bit too sincere to his ears. To compensate, he tried to give Hinata a nasty look and turned the sarcasm up to a hundred as he snarkily added, “All better.”

Tsukishima expected some sort of response from Hinata, preferably outrage so they could make their way back to familiar territory, but he found it completely uncomfortable how Hinata just looked at him, his face almost neutral, but there was another emotion just barely there and it irritated Tsukishima that he couldn’t discern what exactly it was.

“What? What are you looking at?” He demanded and almost growled at how Hinata hadn’t even flinched at his tone.

“Nothing,” Hinata said softly, and he looked at Tsukishima with something like awe in his eyes. “It’s just… I’ve never seen you be so kind before.” Both of the boys flushed at the confession and Tsukishima tsked before standing to his full height and moving to the side, cleaning up the mess of wrappers and first aid supplies on the counter.

“Don’t get used to it, shrimp.” He harshly shut the first aid box and Hinata flinched at the impact. Tsukishima towered over Hinata, looking down at him as he held the box close to him, and Hinata gulped as they made eye contact.

“I still find you to be a complete nuisance; don’t think my act of kindness changes that.” Hinata nodded quickly in response and Tsukishima made a sound of approval, standing up to his full height once more.

“ _ Don’t _ touch anything,” he snapped and Hinata immediately halted, retracting the hand that had begun to reach for the dinosaur cup. “I’ll be right back.” Hinata nodded once more and Tsukishima left the bathroom.

He swore he was only gone for a minute, putting the first aid kit back where he found it, but by the time he had come back Hinata was gone and worst of all, he heard another voice that definitely did  _ not  _ belong to Hinata coming from the front of the house. In a panic, Tsukishima rushed downstairs to where the voices were coming from and was horrified to see the sight before him; Hinata and his brother, Akiteru, standing in the foyer and talking to each other like they were long time friends.

“Akiteru!” Tsukishima called, urgency apparent in his tone as his voice pitched a little at the end and both Hinata and his brother looked up at the sound, the both of them giving him similar but their own brand of a pleasant smile as they saw Tsukishima.

Tsukishima cleared his throat. “What are you doing back home already? I thought you had that thing and you weren’t coming home until later?” Behind Hinata, who was still smiling brightly at Tsukishima and the sight made a tightness form in Tsukishima’s stomach that he didn’t understand, Akiteru looked between his brother and the back of Hinata’s head a few times, assessing the situation, and Tsukishima  _ prayed _ his brother wouldn’t get any weird ideas like he sometimes could.

After a few moments of the back and forth, Tsukishima even gesturing with his face for Akiteru to leave while Hinata looked confused but still happy to be there, finally understanding dawned on Akiteru’s face.

“ _ Ohh _ ,” Akiteru drawed out and Tsukishima wanted to facepalm at his overexaggerated voice. “Right, about that -- my thing, I mean -- it got cancelled, so I came home early!” Akiteru smiled and sounded very pleased with himself and Tsukishima could already tell that once Hinata left he would be  _ bombarded _ with ridiculous questions that he really didn’t want to answer and he agonized at the thought.

“By the way, Kei, who’s your friend?” Hinata beamed immensely at Akiteru calling him Tsukishima’s friend and Tsukishima almost had to cover his face from how bright it was.

“ _ Hinata _ ,” he enunciated, throwing Hinata a pointed look that made the redhead go into himself a bit. “Was just about to leave.” Tsukishima quickly walked over to Hinata and began pushing him to the entrance of the door, bending down to hand Hinata his shoes.

“Wait, Kei!” Akiteru had his “big brother” voice on and Tsukishima resisted rolling his eyes. Akiteru gently pushed in between Tsukishima to separate the two boys and stood by Hinata’s side. “That’s no way to treat a guest! You know we’ve taught you better than that.”

This time Tsukishima really did roll his eyes and even gave a groan along with it. “It’s not rude if Hinata has to get going, is it?”

Both of them looked at Hinata, who had been smiling at the exchange, but the sudden attention made him cower a little. Akiteru smiled softly at Hinata and Tsukishima goaned when he saw how Hinata was looking at his older brother; hook, line, and sinker.  _ Damn _ Akiteru and his ability to charm the pants off anyone with little to no effort.

“Hinata-kun,” Akiteru started.

“M-my name is Shoyo,” Hinata muttered shly, refusing to meet Akiteru’s eyes, and Tsukishima gagged.

Akiteru smiled again and Tsukishima wanted to barf when he saw Hinata’s cheeks turn pink. “Shoyo-kun, you don’t have to go, right? Would you like to stay for dinner? I’m sure mom would  _ love _ to meet another one of Kei’s friends.” Akiteru threw a look over his shoulder at Kei as he emphasized the word “love” and Kei shivered at the thought of sharing dinner with Hinata and his mother doting on the twerp.

Scrambling to get out of this situation, Tsukishima thought of something and a metaphorical lightbulb popped over his head. “He can’t, Akiteru, because he lives far from here and it wouldn’t be safe for him to travel at night.” Tsukishima smirked and crossed his arms, thinking he’d best his brother. “Right, Hinata?”

Picking up on the situation, Hinata sighed and how disappointed he sounded did something to Tsukishima’s chest that he didn’t like. Looking like a kicked puppy, Hinata turned to Akiteru. “I’m sorry, Akiteru-san, but Tsukishima’s right.”

Without even missing a beat, Akiteru shrugged. “Why don’t you just stay the night, then?”

At the suggestion, both Tsukishima and Hinata’s jaws dropped. Hinata suddenly turned very excited, practically vibrating at the suggestion and clenching his fists happily as he bounced up and down and he turned to Tsukishima. “Can I, Tsukishima-kun? Are you sure your mother wouldn’t mind, Akiteru-san?”

Before anyone could say another word, the sound of the door unlocking filled the foyer and appeared the image of Tsukishima’s mother back from work and holding a bag of groceries and she jumped a little when she saw so many people standing at the entrance of her home.

“What’s going on here?” She asked, trying to sound casual as she entered the home, saying her greetings before taking her shoes off. She looked at Hinata and threw a confused look at her sons before turning to the boy.

“Why, hello, dear.” She greeted him politely and Hinata immediately went into a bow.

“Tsukishima-san, hello! My name is Hinata Shoyo and I’m a classmate of your son’s! I apologize for the intrusion!”

Tsukishima-san laughed at his outburst, politely covering her mouth to conceal her laughter, and gestured for Hinata to stand up right. “That’s quite alright, dear. I’m glad to hear Kei has more friends.” At their mother’s approval, Akiteru turned to Kei and stuck his tongue out as a way of saying “I told you so” and the younger brother rolled his eyes at his brother’s immaturity.

Tsukishima-san walked past her sons and towards the door to the kitchen, but she stopped at the entrance, half in the kitchen and half in the halfway with her hand on the doorframe as she looked at Hinata. “Shoyo-kun, would you like to stay for dinner?”

Akiteru and Hinata cheered at the offer and Kei really did facepalm this time.  _ It’s going to be a long night, _ was his only thought as he followed his brother and Hinata into the living room.

Dinner was surprisingly fine. Hinata showed manners that Tsukishima had never known him to possess and if him being Tsukishima’s “friend” wasn't enough itself, his pleasant attitude towards his family earned him a permanent spot of their book of “the good ones,” right below Tsukishima’s only friend Yamaguchi and a girl his age named Yachi who was his next door neighbor that he would see sometimes when getting the mail.

After dinner Hinata called his mother and his excitement was obvious at his mother’s approval of him staying the night. Accepting his fate, Tsukishima didn’t let the news bother him and instead began to set up the futon. A very small part of him  _ deep down inside _ that he refused to acknowledge told him that he was actually very fine with Hinata staying the night, but he quickly shoved the thought to the side and instead focused on laying out the futon.

When he was finished Tsukishima turned to Hinata who was sitting at his desk and watching him set up the futon. Their eyes met for the briefest moments and Tsukishima whipped his away before standing up and making his way to the door.

“I’m gonna bathe,” he announced, not looking at Hinata. “You can go after,” was the last thing he said before he pushed out of the room. Hinata let out indignant cries of what a horrible host Tsukishima was for not letting his guest go first but Tsukishima ignored him and headed to the bathroom.

After he was finished he came back to his room, hair still slightly wet and dripping with water, and he was surprised to see Hinata scrawled out on his bed reading a volume of his manga. At least, he thought that’s what it was. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, so he couldn’t exactly tell.

“What are you doing?” He asked squirting his eyes to make out Hinata better and Hinata flinched at his voice, quickly shoving the book away and trying not to look guilty, stuttering out that he wasn’t doing anything. With a sigh, Tsukishima entered the room and went to his bed to grab the book, putting it back in its place on his desk before sitting in his desk chair and he towel dried his hair.

He expected Hinata to get up and shower, but instead Hinata sat on the bed looking at him. He squinted again to make out what face he was making and was annoyed that even from so near he couldn’t see the other very well. “What are you looking at?”

“N-nothing!” Hinata squeaked, diverting his eyes but he was so dramatic and obvious in that he was still looking at Tsukishima that Tsukishima could see it even without his glasses. “I’ve just never seen you without your glasses before… You look… h-handsome…”

At the confession Tsukishima made a choking sound and Hinata an embarrassed one before he covered his burning face in his hands. “Y-You can’t just say that the people, what the hell?” Tsukishima breathed out, putting a hand to his chest and feeling embarrassed over how fast his heart was beating.

“I’m sorry, I had to tell you! You look like your brother, I was surprised.”

Ah, there it was. If that could’ve even been counted as a moment it didn’t matter because now it was ruined. Obviously annoyed, Tsukishima turned away from Hinata, deciding to finish his homework to distract himself.

“Go shower,” he ordered and tuned Hinata out. Hinata wanted to object, apologize if he had offended Tsukishima, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to talk to Tsukishima if he didn’t want him to so he sighed and went to the bathroom.

As he prepared to clean himself he noticed that Tsukishima had left him a change of clothes for him to use, placed neatly on top of his towel and his heart clenched at the gesture. He looked at the bathroom wall that Tsukishima was just on the other side of and he felt even more guilty for upsetting Tsukishima and he thought of how he could remedy it the entire time he bathed.

They didn’t say much when Hinata returned from his bath. Tsukishima had already turned his light off and was laying in bed resolutely ignoring Hinata when he came back from the bathroom and Hinata quietly climbed into the futon to not disturb him.

As they laid there in the dark and quiet a heavy atmosphere encased them and both knew the other wasn’t sleeping. Feeling uncomfortable with the energy in the room and guilty from before Hinata was the first to speak.

“I’m sorry for saying you look like your brother, Tsukishima,” he said quietly, his fingers gripping the edge of the futon that was pulled up to his face and slightly muffling his voice. “I didn’t mean anything bad by it, I promise.”

Tsukishima didn’t say anything after a while and Hinata almost gave up thinking Tsukishima was already asleep until the boy sighed harshly and Hinata heard the sound of shuffling in the bed. When he looked up he saw Tsukishima looking down at him from the bed, his face still glassesless and the pale blue moonlight from the window illuminating his face beautifully and Hinata’s breath hitched at the sight before him. And he also laughed a little when he saw how hard Tsukishima was squinting to see him in the dark and without visual aid.

“I’m not mad that you said I look like him or anything,” he said forlornly, not meeting Hinata’s eyes and Hinata’s vision flicked to Tsukishima’s fingers that were playing with a loose thread on his comforter. “It’s just that… everyone says that.”

Hinata tilted his head in confusion at the admission. “Is that a bad thing?” He asked, sitting up to mirror Tsukishima’s pose and there they were laying in the darkness and staring at each other, the moon their only witness.

Tsukishima gave an irritated sigh before running his hand through his hair in frustration and plopping back down into his bed, his body bouncing slightly at the motion and Hinata laughed to himself at how even tall and intimidating Tsukishima could be cute and childish sometimes.

“No?” Tsukishima asked, sounding unsure of himself before giving another frustrated sigh. “I don’t know, I just don’t like it.”

“Mind telling me why? If you want to, of course.” Hinata was trying to be careful here; he’d never heard Tsukishima speak so much nor with this much emotion and he’d never forgive himself if he messed it up and lost his chance to finally get closer to the other.

Tsukishima looked at him and Hinata hardened his resolve, meeting his eyes and refusing to look away while Tsukishima studied him. Whatever he was looking for he must’ve found it because he looked away and sighed again and Hinata’s heart hurt so much from hearing him sigh so much and how upset it sounded.

“Akiteru and I…” Tsukishima started, trying to find his words, and even though he couldn’t see him Hinata nodded in encouragement for him to continue. “We don’t really get along. We used to, but then things changed and now we barely talk.

“When people compare us it upsets me because it reminds me of what happened and also how i'll never be like my brother and I just don’t like it.” It was said rushed out and Tsukishima finished with a huff, slightly panting from how fast he had spoken.

Hinata sat there, processing the information, and a silence fell over them once more but it wasn’t heavy and upsetting like it was before. Now it was peaceful and gentle and the sound of bugs and animals outside and the air conditioning running made for pleasant background noise as Hinata tried to come up with the words to say.

“I don’t know what happened between you two, obviously,” Hinata started and now he was sitting on the futon crisscross and looking at Tsukishima who was laying on his side and looking right back at him. “But, I still don’t think it’s a bad thing.”

Tsukishima recoiled a little, not liking the answer, but Hinata continued before he could object. “When it comes to family people will always compare each other, especially siblings, but I think when people tell you you remind them of Akiteru they mean that in the best possible way. They’re not saying you don’t have qualities of your own, but that the best qualities you share with your brother are admirable and defining characteristics of both of you. I think it’s less ‘you’re like your brother’ and more ‘it’s nice that you both are like this’ you know?

“That’s what i think, at least,” Hinata finished turning bashful after his speech. He rubbed at his neck in embarrassment and Tsukishima stared at him in fascination. He didn’t think Hinata was capable of such deep thought, but Hinata surprising him was in fact no longer surprising.

“I get it though,” Hinata added, playing with the edge of the futon that kept swaying from the fan Tsukishima had blowing in his room. “People don’t tell me I’m like my sister because she’s little but people say I remind them of my dad all the time and it’s weird.”

Hinata looked up after speaking, like he was seeing if Tsukishima would listen to him, and Tsukishima’s eyebrow quirked in interest was all he needed to continue. “My dad is overseas a lot because of work. He’s never really been there jn my life, honestly I don’t really know him at all, so when people say I’m like him it doesn’t sit right with me. Especially since I don’t have the greatest opinion of him. “ the last part was so quiet and mumbled Tsukishima had to strain his ears to hear it but when he did his heart ached at it. He hadn’t known any of that about Hinata.

“I’m sure it’s probably something similar with your brother, so I get it, but people don’t generally compare you to someone and mean it in a bad way. Not to your face, at least.” Hinata gave a cheesy smile at his joke and even Tsukishima felt his lips turning up at it.

“So, don’t worry what people think of you, Tsukishima-kun,” Hinata concluded and he smoothed out the wrinkles out of the comforter on the futon. “And whatever Akiteru-san did I’m sure he’s very sorry about it.”

There was no possible way for Hinata to know how Akiteru felt and even if they were probably empty words for some reason hearing them come from such a genuine and well meaning person actually made him feel better. Hinata didn’t say things just to say things, and if he said Akiteru was regretful of their past together, maybe he really was.

Tsukishima was going to say something until he was cut off by a loud sound coming from Hinata, the redhead covering his yawn from his mouth. Tsukishima snickered a little at the sound and turned to lay on his back.

“I think it’s time to go to bed, Hinata,” he observed and Hinata made a tired sound of agreement, crawling under the futon.

The sounds of frogs and crickets at night were normal during summer and while Tsukishima usually found them annoying and irritating, he found he didn’t really mind them tonight, the quiet sounds of nature filling the empty space of his room and for once he was grateful to not be alone. 

“Goodnight, Tsukishima-kun,” Hinata's soft and sleepy voice called from the floor and soon joined the noise of the frogs and crickets where the soft sounds of Hinata breathing and snoring quietly.

Tsukishima laid in his bed and let the sounds surround him, closing his eyes and basking in it. He took a deep breath and exhaled, feeling a lot calmer than he had in awhile, and he let all of the tension and negativity leave his body like a dandelion in the wind.

“Goodnight, Shoyo,” he whispered and fell asleep.

When he woke in the morning, Tsukishima could hear the sound of breakfast being made and Hinata talking to his family and for the briefest of moments Tsukishima had really thought yesterday was a dream, but he was really glad it wasn’t.

Tsukishima pulled himself out of bed, not bothering with his morning routine, and headed to the dining room. In the kitchen that the dining room looked into was Hinata, his mother, and his brother all chatting together as they prepared breakfast, even Hinata helping out. They made jokes and laughed and Tsukishima watched the scene before him with interest; it was a little terrifying how easily Hinata fit in with his family.

Before he let his thoughts run away from him, he announced his presence with the clearing of his throat and was pleased when all three of them turned to look at him wearing their own smiles of greeting.

“Good morning, Tsukishima-kun!” Hinata called and ran up to him. He had a towel in his hands that he was drying them with and an apron around his waist and Tsukishima felt his cheeks redden at the idea of how nice Hinata cooking for him was.

“I was surprised you slept so late,” Hinata told him, undoing his apron. “Your mom said I could only help out until you woke up, so I guess I’m done now.” He turned to Tsukishima’s mother and bowed to her in thanks for letting him help before putting the towel and apron back where they belonged. With a smile he took Tsukishima’s hand and told him “let’s go!” before dragging the blonde back to his room.

“I actually have to get going,” Hinata told Tsukishima shyly in the room and he began to pack up his things. “My mom was weary about letting me stay over since it was so far away but she said it’s okay as long as I came home early.” Tsukishima watched him as he put his things away and a part of him didn’t want him to go.

When he was finished Hinata gave him an accomplished smile before it faltered slightly, the boy also not wanting their time to end so soon. “Walk me out?” He asked carefully and Tsukishima nodded and walked him out the front door.

Outside they stood by each other in silence, neither really sure what to say nor wanting to leave the other. After a while Hinata gave an exhale and smiled up at Tsukishima.

“This was fun!” He chirped, clutching his book back over his chest. “I’m sorry that I scared you back at school…” he said shamefully, not meeting Tsukishima’s eyes but he quickly perked up again. “But since it let me see this side of you, I don’t regret it.”

Tsukishima was a bit shocked at that and he looked away shyly, his cheeks warming up a bit. “I don’t regret it either…” he mumbled and Hinata beamed at him.

“Good!” He gave him a thumbs up and Tsukishima felt the faintest hints of a smile on his face.

“Well… I guess I’ll see you at school?” Tsukishima nodded and he watched as Hinata walked off, only to be surprised when the redhead came running back.

Before he was able to realize what was happening, Hinata jumped at him and Tsukishima felt the softest touch of lips against his cheek before Hinata made an embarrassed sound and ran away, yelling his apologies and goodbyes and Tsukishima could only laugh at his reaction, after he got over his own shock, of course.

With a find shake of his head Tsukishima went back inside his home and inside had to explain to his disappointed family why Hinata had left so early.

“Aw, that’s a shame,” his mother said as she dished out their breakfast. She put his food in front of him and sat in her chair, a bit of a frown on her face. “I really liked that boy.”

Without realizing it, Tsukishima smiled to himself and his brother and mother exchanged a confused and excited look but did say anything to him about it.

“Yeah, I like him, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> [ personal twitter ](https://mobile.twitter.com/edilyfthaseul)   
>  [ fic twitter ](https://twitter.com/fireflysunlight?s=21)   
> 


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